A search engine returns search results that match a search query submitted by a user. Typically, the search engine orders the search results based on algorithms currently in use by that particular search engine. The order usually takes the form of a “ranking”, where the document with the highest ranking is the document considered most likely to satisfy the interest reflected in the search criteria specified by the user. Once the matching documents have been determined, and the display order of those documents has been determined, the search engine sends to the user that issued the search a “search results page” that presents information about the matching documents in the selected display order.
Typically, the search results page includes other information, such as advertisements. Search engines may determine what advertisements to include based on an analysis of keywords in the search query or analysis of search results in the search results page. For example, if the search query has the keyword “car”, then advertisements relating to automobile dealers might be included in the search results page.
Thus, the search results page is typically the same for all users who submitted the search query to a particular search engine. Moreover, a given user will typically obtain the same search results whether the user submitted the search query from home, work, or another location.
In some cases, different users might receive somewhat different search results pages from each other, depending on information such as the zip code from which the search query is believed to have originated. For example, the selection of the advertisements might be based on a zip code associated with a user that entered the search query. This could allow advertisements to be limited to automobile dealers near the user's zip code. However, the user does not have control over the search experience because the search engine controls the user search experience.
Techniques also exist for third party providers of search result pages to provide a “look and feel” that is unique to that third party provider, even if the third party provider obtains the search results from the search engine. For example, the third party might be a news website that has a search box that is “powered by” a particular search engine. The news website has an agreement with the particular search engine that the news website is allowed to use the particular search engine to perform the search. The news website might configure the search engine results page with its own “look and feel.” However, again the user does not have control over the search experience because the third party provider controls the user search experience.
Therefore, limitations exist with respect to the amount of control that a user, or the user's representative, can exert over the user's web search experience.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.